Travel to Geneva

Super sleek, slick and cosmopolitan, Geneva is a rare breed of city. It's one ofEurope's priciest. Its people chatter in every language under the sun and it's constantly thought of as the Swiss capital - which it isn't. This gem of a city superbly strung around the sparkling shores of Europe's largest Alpine lake is, in fact, onlySwitzerland's third-largest city.


Yet the whole world is here: the UN, International Red Cross, International Labour Organization, World Health Organization. You name it, they're in Geneva; 200-odd top-dog governmental and nongovernmental international organisations meting out world affairs with astonishing precision and authority. They fill the city's bounty of plush four- and five-star hotels with big-name guests. They feast on an incredulous choice of international cuisine, cooked up by restaurants to meet 'local' demand. And they help prop up the overload of banks, luxury jewellers and chocolate shops for which the city is known. Strolling through manicured city parks, sailing on the lake and skiing in the Alps next door are hot weekend pursuits.

But, ask critics, where's the urban grit? Not in the lakeside with its tourist boats, silky-smooth promenades and record-breaking high fountain. Not in its picture-postcard Old Town. No. If it's the rough-cut side of the diamond you're after, you need to dig into the Pâquis quarter, walk west along the Rhône's industrial shores or south into trendy Carouge where rejuvenated factories, alternative clubs and humble neighbourhood bars hum with attitude. This is, after all, the Geneva of the Genevois…or as close as you get, at any rate.

In 1536, a young man named Jean Calvin, fleeing Catholic persecution in France, spent a night in Geneva. As it turned out, he was to do a lot more there than sleeping. After being expelled from Geneva for nearly three years, Calvin returned triumphantly in 1541 to help elevate the city to the rank of a Protestant Rome. The intellectual influence of the Reformation extended to all realms of Genevan life: politics, economy, and administration.

Geneva was an independent republic from at least the 16th century until it became a Swiss Canton on 31 Dec 1813. This is a point of some pride to theGenevois, who still refer to their Canton as the République et Canton de Genève. A favorite festival is the yearly celebration of the Escalade, which commemorates a failed attempt in 1602 by the forces of the Dukes of Savoy to invade the city by climbing and otherwise breaching the city walls. Having turned aside this invasion attempt at the cost of only 16 lives, Geneva had secured its liberty, since the House of Savoy was never again strong enough on this side of the Alps to attempt such an invasion.

Geneva is still a very proud city. Some find it downright stuffy, although there is quite a bit more life to be found if you look under the surface, especially if you speak some French.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com; http://wikitravel.org

Travel to Vienna

Few cities in the world glide so effortlessly between the present and the past like Vienna. Its splendid historical face is easily recognised: grand imperial palaces and bombastic baroque interiors, museums flanking magnificent squares and, above all, the Hofburg – where the Habsburg rulers lived, loved and married into empires.

But this historical aspect often makes us forget that Vienna is also one of Europe’s most dynamic urban spaces. Just a stone’s throw from Hofburg, the MuseumsQuartier houses some of the world’s most provocative contemporary art behind a striking basalt façade. Outside, a courtyard buzzes on summer evenings with throngs of Viennese drinking and chatting. Nearby, restaurants brim with imbibers enjoying the pleasures of wine and food, while across the yard a museum café pulsates with beats.

It is a reminder that the city of Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss, Brahms, Mahler and Schönberg is also the Vienna of Falco, who immortalised its urban textures in song. It’s also a place where sushi and Austro-Asian fusion restaurants stand alongside the traditional Beisl. In this Vienna, it’s okay to mention poetry slam and Stephansdom in one breath.

Throw in the mass of green space within the confines of the city limits (almost half the city expanse is given over to parkland), the ‘blue’ Danube cutting a path just to the east of the historical centre and the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods) creating much of Vienna’s western border and you also have a capital with a great outdoors.

Vienna was probably an important trading post for the Celts when the Romans arrived around 15 BC. They set up camp and named it Vindobona, after the Celtic tribe Vinid. The settlement blossomed into a town by the 3rd and 4th centuries, and vineyards were introduced to the surrounding area.

In 881 the town, then known as ‘Wenia’, surfaced in official documents and over the ensuing centuries control of Vienna changed hands a number of times, before the Babenburgs gained the upper hand. The Habsburgs inherited it, but none of them resided here permanently until Ferdinand I in 1533; the city was besieged by Turks in 1529.

Vienna was a hotbed of revolt and religious bickering during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and suffered terribly through plague and siege at the end of the 17th century. However, the beginning of the 18th century heralded a golden age for Vienna, with baroque architecture, civil reform and a classical music revolution.

Things turned sour at the beginning of the 19th century – Napoleon occupied the city twice, in 1805 and 1809. His reign over Europe was brief, and in 1814–15 Vienna hosted the Congress of Vienna in celebration. Vienna grew in post-Napoleon Europeand in 1873 hosted its second international event, the World Fair. The advent of WWI stalled the city’s architectural and cultural development and, by the end of the war, the monarchy had been consigned to the past.

The 1920s saw the rise of fascism, and by 1934 civil war broke out in the city streets. The socialists were defeated and Vienna’s city council dissolved. Austria was ripe for the picking, and Hitler came a-harvesting; on 15 March 1938 he entered the city to the cries of 200, 000 ecstatic Viennese.

Vienna suffered heavily under Allied bombing, and on 11 April 1945 advancing Russian troops liberated the city. The Allies joined them until Vienna became independent in 1955, and since then it has gone from the razor’s edge of Cold War to the focal point between new and old EU member nations.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com; http://wikitravel.org

Travel to Panama City

Panama City is quite an exciting city with a lot of history. You will be able to see many buildings in the typical Colonial Baroque style that was popular in all of Central America before the Spaniards were kicked out.

Panama City is a very beautiful city. The first thing you see in Panama's skyline is the contrast between the old (the Casco Viejo, old part of town, founded in 1673) and the new (Balboa avenue, banking area and Punta Paitilla). While the modern part of town is a fast moving city with skyscrapers everywhere, all kinds of restaurants and night clubs, a lot of small shops as well as big department stores and shopping malls, cellphones ringing allover, the Casco Viejo takes you way back in time with it's narrow streets, cafes and it's great architecture.

Nice things to do include a visit to the Amador Causeway that connects three small islands to the mainland. Grab a bite in one of the many restaurants it has to offer, ride a bicycle, rent a boat http://www.panamacruise.com.pa/listing-Boat Rental in Panama City-25.html and go fishing on one of the worlds best spots for sport fishing, watch the cruises dock at the marina at the end or to just take a walk and enjoy the sea breeze. Hop on a ferry from Amador to Taboga Island for the day or several quiet days at a Bed and Breakfast to enjoy the quaint village by the beach with rich history of pirates and conquistadors.

At the periphery of the modern town you will find the ruins of Panamá la Vieja, the first town founded by Spaniards at the Pacific in 1519.

Just outside the city center in the former 'Canal Zone' you'll find the Miraflores locks where the ships enter the famous Panama Canal. It has an visitor center well worth your visit and a restaurant with a million $ view.

Within view of the Miraflores locks you'll find the City of Knowledge, formerly Ft. Clayton. This cluster of academic institutions, NGO's and tech companies includes a Spanish language school (ILISA).

You will be taken to the hotel and assisted through check in. If you have planned to travel to another part of Panama your ticket for the commuter flight will be at the desk and you will be transported to the domestic airport the next day and assisted through check in. Twin turboprop planes fly to most parts of Panama and flights are under one hour. Be sure to check out the Panama Canal when you fly on the commuter flight! Again, you will be met at the destination airport and assisted to your hotel.

Car rental is available in Panama and like most countries in Latin America you will find lots of taxis but I recommend having the hotel call for your taxi and getting a card from that driver. It is best to develop a personal relationship with a taxi driver because they are a wealth of information and they take very good care of their repeat customers.

So! If your ready to travel just book the flight and we will make sure you are comfortable and secure once you get there.

The cost for this service will vary depending on which city or cities you wish to visit. We have either stayed in or inspected each of our recommended hotels.

Each client’s needs may be unique so we will work personally with you to provide exactly the travel experience you desire.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com; http://wikitravel.org

Travel to Venice

Do you know why you never like to get out of the bathtub? It's because you wish you were in Venice, that's why.

Take one hundred and eighteen salt-marsh islands in the northern Adriatic. Combine them with Roman refugees and a liberal stinking of Visigoth invaders. Shake until well-mixed. Season with Crusaders, international silk trading and seamen of naval warfare. Glaze thickly with castrated Baroque sopranos and finish with a garnish of bridges. Serve on boats.

Venice is divided into six districts called "Sistieri" in Italian; that word will come in handy when you're floating hither and yon. They are Cannaregio, San Polo, Dorsoduro, Santa Croce, San Marco, and Castello.

Beyond these, there's Lido and Mestre. Lido is a sandbar to the east of Venice with 20,000 permanent residents and 65 tranzillion summer people. In the beginning of the 12th century, thousands of Crusaders were stuck here in Lido when they could not afford to pay transport rates for Venetian ships! See, location really IS everything.

On the west side of the Lagoon is Mestre, which has the airport, the buses, the traffic and basically everything else from modern life that you come to Venice to ignore. To be fair, for centuries now Mestre has borne the brunt of the international shipping traffic coming into Porto Marghera, while "Venice" takes all the credit. Typical older sibling.

How did it get here? Venice used its location at the top of the Adriatic to become a massive naval and commercial power. By the end of the thirteenth century, trading among the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim countries to the south had made Venice the wealthiest city in Europe.

Venice declined in stature from the 15th century. First they lost a war against the Ottoman Empire and then lost a lot of business when a sea route to India bypassed their port. The Plague came in next and wiped out a third of the citizens

But nevermind that! Venice was the center of the musical universe during Opera season. Composers, musicians and mask makers would prepare all year for the orgy of productions that came to Venice during Carnival.

Real quick -- opera was an Italian invention for combining Greek tragedies with music, theater and spectacle. It broke out of private royal courts and became a public event as of 1637, supported by a season of ticket sales before Lent. Hence opera season.

Pow, zing, wow and instant popularity. Masks were permitted to be worn in public, European dignitaries arrived from everywhere, and this was THE PLACE to be. I mean, like, imagine Louis XIV getting up on stage to prance while the orchestra freaks out and plays the ritornello a few more times until he wants to sit down again. (Orchestras don't really improvise so well).

Ever been to the movies? Thank Venice. In fact, to this day a vestige of the operatic tradition remains -- Lido hosts the Venice Film Festival in September of every year. Hint hint, late summer visit, hint hint.

Getting There

Venice is served by the The Marco Polo Airport. Here's an overview of where the airport is in relation to the city.

Now it's time to look at that map and start cheering because you can take a BOAT to and from the airport!! Traffic jams do not exist on boats. Maybe some kind of docking delay once in a while, but who's going to complain about that?

Thus Venice is yours for the taking (plus ten Euros to the boat operator).

The airport is also connected to the city by buses, which regularly run to railway stations Venice-Santa Lucia and Mestre-Venice.

You can buy bus tickets at the local tobacco shop or news stand.

Transportation

Public transportation in Venice transcends all other people-moving devices on earth. This is how city life should be, enjoyable and relaxed during every instant of the day or night.

Where on earth is the metro a primary reason for visiting? Nowhere. Usually it's the primary reason for LEAVING. Let me wipe the sweat of ugly metro-memories from my brow before we go on to this placid paradise.

Buses cross the Lagoon Bridge (Ponte della Liberta) and connect to Piazzale Roma, Venice's bus terminal.

Vaporetti are the crowded and cheap water buses that connect the canals of the city to the different islands and the lagoon. The Grand Canal is the main thoroughfare in Venice.

The Number One vaporetto goes up and down the Grand Canal, making stops in all six Sestieri.

Rialto Bridge is one of the three bridges that cross the Grand Canal - the others two are the Accademia Bridge and the Scalzi Bridge. It is dated 1591, a masterpiece of Antonio Da Ponte, after a long story of failures, disappointments, and falling wooden bridges...

Calatrava Bridge will be the fourth one.

It costs 6.5 Euro for a one hour ticket, so if you're planning to move around a bit it's probably better to get a travelcard. Ride unlimited distance for 12 hours and only pay 14Euros unless you're a dolphin.

People and Culture

Venice has a rich history and it's all slowly sinking into the sea. By pumping water for industrial uses, Venetians unintentionally removed some of the city's geological foundation. Soft mud, islands and tides did the rest.

There are a few plans to remedy this problem, including floating pontoons, pumping water back into the soil around the lagoon, or "moving upstairs."

Let's see a few details waiting to be found in Venice.

Liuteria Veneziana, creates and repairs violins, guitars and the like.

St. Giacometto one of the oldest churches in Venice.

Floating fruit market at Ponte dei Pugni

Rialto Side "narrow road means good food."

Night in Venice is for lovers. Look at that sky!

Things to do & Recommendations

Venice has restaurant night life but not disco and club night life. Young people go over to the mainland for that.

Requirement: as always, get up as high as you can and have a look around. In Venice, you'll want to go up the San Marco tower.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com; http://wikitravel.org

Travel to Sweden

Sweden is a land of incredible cultural contrast. While urban Sweden is stylish, modern and sophisticated, the countryside offers many simpler pleasures for those in search of tranquillity.

Sweden's scenery generally has a gentler charm than that of neighbouring Norway's rugged coastline and mountains. Much of Sweden is forested, and there are thousands of lakes, notably large stretches of water between Gothenburg and the capital, Stockholm.

The lakeside resort of Östersund, in the centre of Sweden, is popular with Scandinavians, but most visitors opt first for the cities and the Baltic islands: the largest island, Gotland, with its array of ruined medieval churches, is a particular highlight. Another major attraction is the so-called 'Kingdom of Crystal', a forested area between Malmö and Stockholm boasting many fine glassworks.

The land and its people have an air of reserved calm, and while perhaps best known for its automotive and musical exports - Volvo and Abba are household names - a strong historical undertone bubbles close beneath the surface. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Stockholm, where dozens of museums, and attractive medieval and baroque edifices housing boutiques and cafés overlook the attractive harbour.

The midnight sun, the snowbound winters, meatballs, herring, Vikings and Volvos, ABBA and the Hives - whatever your pre-existing notions about Sweden may be, a visit to this multifaceted country is bound to both confirm and confound them. Though you’re unlikely to be greeted at the shore by throngs of mead-swilling berserkers in longships, evidence of the Vikings and their pillaging days is easy to find. A stroll through the Swedish countryside will often lead to a picnic on some ancient king’s burial mound. Cycling routes frequently pass through fields crowned with ship-shaped stone graves. In cities and alongside roadways, rune stones staunchly declare the historical equivalent of ‘Ingmar was here’. But Sweden’s days as a warlike nation are long gone. Instead, its domestic and international policies serve as models of neutrality and consensus-building. This is, after all, the birthplace of the Nobel Peace Prize. Travellers today are more likely to be slayed by visions of pastoral beauty - intense green countryside, impenetrable forests, little red cottages atop remote islands and, everywhere, Sweden’s famously clear blue water.

That’s not to say all the excitement ended thousands of years ago - far from it. While tradition reigns in places like Dalarna in the Swedish heartland and the Sami territory up north, much of Sweden today buzzes with a more contemporary energy. A wave of immigration in recent years has added spark and variety to the cultural milieu. Urban centres like Stockholm, Göteborg (otherwise known as Gothenburg) and Malmö consistently churn out cultural artefacts for an international audience (think IKEA, H&M, Absolut Vodka). The Island of Gotland, lying roughly equidistant between Sweden and Latvia, is Sweden's most richly historical area but also has a hip party vibe. Travellers come to Sweden as much for the flash clubs and ground-breaking new restaurants as they do for wilderness hikes and visits to wooden-horse factories.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com; http://wikitravel.org

Travel to Jamaica

When considering a Caribbean vacation, Jamaica will undoubtedly be one of the choices to consider. Jamaica Vacations offer the tourist all a tropical vacation is meant to be. Coconut palm trees swaying in the warm tropical breezes, Bob Marley tunes always playing in in the background, diving the coral reefs full of colorful tropical fish, eating jerk chicken and sipping a cold red stripe (Jamaica’s world famous beer) bought from a rasta cooking out of a grill made out of a 55 galon drum. If you are a golfer, in Jamaica,, golf courses abound and although the prices tend to be in the $100 dollar range, it’s worth it. The courses are manicured to perfection and the greens are lightning fast. As the song goes, “Come to Jamaica and feel all right”

Our national anthem speaks of “the land we love.” We do, and we love to share it. Our island in the sun is a place of spectacular natural beauty from mighty waterfalls cascading off jungle mountaintops, to tropical rain forests filled with exotic birds and plants, to our extraordinary beaches with their fabulous resorts. Jamaica is a vacation Mecca for the world. We are a land of friendly loving people. We are a place that delights the senses and sooths the soul. Our endless beaches and crystal-clear water say, “Feel me.” Our rich Caribbean-cuisine and seafood say, “Taste me.” Our steel drums and reggae music say, “Hear me, dance with me.”

The moment you arrive your heart will be begin to beat to the slow-paced, go with the flow Jamaican rhythm. There is so much to see and do here and we want to help you see and feel it all. Let us show you how to discover the exceptional travel values and all inclusive resort vacations that will make your time in paradise perfect. Let us share the land we love because we know you will love it too.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com; http://wikitravel.org

Travel to Australia

Australia is a land of contrasts - topographical, cultural, physical, meterological and visual. About 40,000 years ago, the Aborigines were the first to settle. They lived as hunters and gatherers for this entire time, living with a close link to nature, although backburning and other poor agricultural techniques have since been realised to have caused significant deforestation, salinification of the soil and elimination of much of the natural diversity of the landscape. Such a poor ability to interact with nature, despite it being so important, helps explain why much of Australia is now unsuitable for sustaining life. Interestingly, this provides one of the few examples of where the native population damaged the land more than later waves of settlers. Their way of living developed into a complex culture based on oral tradition and intricate social bounds, which was almost destroyed by the second wave of settlers, who were able to populate the land with much more success.

Australia is a nation in its own right, it is also a technically a continent, with large differences between regions. It has a reputation as a land of leisure, with sun, sea and an enviable 'Crocodile Dundee' outdoor lifestyle, but this is just a very narrow conception of a continent. The reality however, is that most people work all day, and then spend the weekend running around trying to pack life into the 2 days on the weekend. Only the homeless and tourists have time to sit around on the beach, or laze away days watching sport on TV.

Australia is a nation in its own right, it is also a technically a continent, with large differences between regions. It has a reputation as a land of leisure, with sun, sea and an enviable 'Crocodile Dundee' outdoor lifestyle, but this is just a very narrow conception of a continent. The reality however, is that most people work all day, and then spend the weekend running around trying to pack life into the 2 days on the weekend, albeit around the NRL ladder. Only the homeless and tourists have time to sit around on the beach, or laze away days watching sport on TV.

One of the states is the island state Tasmania of which one fifth is World Heritage area. Each state has its own national parks with their specific character where you can indulge in bush-walking or maybe even rock-climbing. When you’re interested in the miracles of water-world, you can’t miss out on the Great Barrier Reef on the east coast, the main reason for many travellers to visit Cairns. The Wet Tropics of Queensland comprise dense rainforests and foaming waterfalls. Rare species of animals can be spotted in the famous Kakadu National Park as well as ancient aboriginal art. These old drawings can also be seen in the Namadgi National Park.

Good places to set off for exploration of the great outdoors are big cities such as Canberra, Darwin, Adelaide and Perth, that all have interesting sights and a good cultural atmosphere as well. Of course, Australia is surrounded by sea, so good swimming and surfing beaches are more rule than exception, generally these beaches will be full of only tourists, especially during the week. So fun can be had watching people who haven't heard of sunscreen yet turning into lobsters, or getting trapped in the surf. North of Brisbane, is the Sunshine Coast one of the many stretches of coast where you can find excellent beaches, South of Brisbane is the better known Gold Coast, famous for being home to Australias equivalent of trailer park people and teenagers who can't afford a holiday somewhere better. Don’t forget the smaller historically interesting Alice Springs, or William Creek [the most isolated town in Australia] that will lead you right to the famous Ayers Rock.

Deserts, rainforests, big cities….and just when you thought you’d caught a glimpse of the versatile character of this fascinating continent, you forgotten about Melbourne and the excellent skiing opportunities in the Alpine National Park. Another good option is the Snowy Mountains area in NSW. How many months could you stay?
Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com; http://wikitravel.org

Travel to Paris

Paris is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — consider printing them all.

Paris, the cosmopolitan capital of France, is - with 2.2 million people living in the dense (105 km²) central city and almost 12 million people living in the whole metropolitan area - one of the largest agglomerations in Europe. Located in the north of the country on the river Seine, Paris has the reputation of being the most beautiful and romantic of all cities, brimming with historic associations and remaining vastly influential in the realms of culture, art, fashion, food and design. Dubbed the City of Light (la Ville Lumière) and Capital of Fashion, it is home to the world's finest and most luxorious fashion designers and cosmetics, such as Chanel, Christian Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent, Guerlain, Lancôme, L'Oréal, Clarins, etc. A large part of the city, including the River Seine, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city has the second highest number of Michelin-restaurants in the world (after Tokyo) and contain numerous iconic landmarks, such as the world's most visited tourist sight the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum, Moulin Rouge, Lido etc, making it the most popular tourist destination in the world with 45 million tourists annually.

Introducing Paris

Well informed, eloquent and oh-so-romantic, the ‘City of Light’ is a philosopher, a poet, a crooner. As it always has been, Paris is a million different things to a million different people.

Paris has all but exhausted the superlatives that can reasonably be applied to any city. Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower – at sunrise, at sunset, at night – have been described countless times, as have the Seine and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between the Left and Right Banks. But what writers have been unable to capture is the grandness and even the magic.

Paris probably has more familiar landmarks than any other city in the world. As a result, first-time visitors often arrive in the French capital with all sorts of expectations: of grand vistas, of intellectuals discussing weighty matters in cafés, of romance along the Seine, of naughty nightclub revues, of rude people who won’t speak English. If you look hard enough, you can probably find all of those. But another approach is to set aside the preconceptions of Paris and to explore the city’s avenues and backstreets as if the tip of the Eiffel Tower or the spire of Notre Dame wasn’t about to pop into view at any moment.

You’ll soon discover (as so many others before you have) that Paris is enchanting almost everywhere, at any time, even ‘in the summer, when it sizzles’ and ‘in the winter, when it drizzles’, as Cole Porter put it. And you’ll be back. Trust us.

St-Denis

For 1200 years St-Denis was the burial place of French royalty; today it is a quiet suburb just north of Paris’ 18e arrondissement. The ornate royal tombs, adorned with some truly remarkable statuary, and Basilique de St-Denis that contains them (the world’s first major Gothic structure), are worth a visit. St-Denis can also boast the Stade de France, the futuristic stadium just south of Canal de St-Denis.

Cooking in Paris.

What better place to discover the secrets of la cuisine française than in Paris, the capital of gastronomy? Courses are available at different levels and lengths of time and the cost of tuition varies widely. One of the most popular – and affordable – for beginners is the Les Coulisses du Chef Cours de Cuisine Olivier Berté (01 40 26 14 00; www.coursdecuisineparis.com; 2nd fl, 7 rue Paul Lelong, 2e; Bourse), which offers three-hour courses at 10.30am from Wednesday to Saturday with an additional class from 6pm to 9pm on Friday. ‘Carnets’ of five/20 courses are available.

Much more expensive are the Paris Cooking Classes with Patricia Wells (www.patriciawells.com) led by the incomparable American food critic and author at her cooking studio in rue Jacob, 6e. The class runs from Monday to Friday, is limited to seven participants and includes market visits, tastings, local transport and daily lunch.

Other cooking schools in Paris include the following:

Coin-Cuisine (01 45 79 01 40; www.coin-cuisine.fr, in French; 110 rue du Théatre, 15e; Av Émile Zola) Courses of various themes and levels lasting from one to four hours.

Cook’n with Class (06 31 73 62 77; www.cooknwithclass.com; 21 rue Custine, 18e; Château Rouge) Morning/evening/full-day classes are available.

École Le Cordon Bleu (01 53 68 22 50; www.cordonbleu.edu; 8 rue Léon Delhomme, 15e; Vaugirard or Convention) Dating back to 1895, the Cordon Bleu school has professional courses as well as one-day themed workshops on topics like terrines and viennoiserie (baked goods), and two- and four-day courses on classic and modern sauces and the secrets of bread and pastry making.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com; http://wikitravel.org

Travel to New York City

New York City is an enormous city. Each of its five boroughs is the equivalent of a large city in its own right and may itself be divided into districts. These borough and district articles contain sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — consider printing them all.

New York City [1] (also referred to as "New York", "NYC", "The Big Apple", or just "the City" by locals), is the biggest city in the United States. It lies at the mouth of the Hudson River in the southernmost part of the state, which is part of the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA.

The New York Metropolitan Area spans parts of three states—lower New York, northern New Jersey, and southwestern Connecticut. It is the USA's largest metro area, with a population of 18.7 million. As of 2007, it was 5th in the world, after Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Seoul.

New York City is a center for media, culture, food, fashion, art, research, finance, and trade. It has one of the largest and most famous skylines on earth, dominated by the iconic Empire State Building.

Understan the travel to New York City

New York City is one of the global centers of international finance, politics, communications, film, music, fashion, and culture, and is among the world's most important and influential cities. It is home to many world-class museums, art galleries, and theaters. Many of the world's largest corporations have their headquarters here. The headquarters of the United Nations is in New York and most countries have a consulate here. This city's influence on the globe—and all its inhabitants—is hard to overstate, as decisions made within its boundaries often have impacts and ramifications literally across the world.

Immigrants (and their descendants) from over 180 countries live here, making it one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Travelers are attracted to New York City for its culture, energy and cosmopolitanism.

Orientation

At the center of New York City sits the borough of Manhattan, a long, narrow island nestled in a natural harbor. It is separated from The Bronx on the north east by the Harlem River (actually a tidal strait); from Queens and Brooklyn to the east and south by the East River (also a tidal strait); and from the State of New Jersey to the west and north by the Hudson River. (Staten Island lies to the south west, across Upper New York Bay.)

In Manhattan, the terms “uptown” and “north” mean in the direction of the Bronx, north east on the compass, while “downtown” and “south” mean in the direction of the Battery, to the south west. To avoid confusion, simply use “uptown” and “downtown.”

The term “the city” may refer either to New York City as a whole, or to Manhattan alone, depending on the context. The Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens are sometimes referred to as “the outer boroughs.”

Climate in New York

New York City has a humid continental climate and experiences all four seasons with hot and humid summers (June-Sept), cool and dry autumns (Sept-Dec), cold winters (Dec-Mar), and wet springs (Mar-June). Average highs for January are around 38°F (3°C) and average highs for July are about 84°F (29°C). However, temperatures in the winter can go down to as low as 0°F (-18°C) and in the summer, temperatures can go as high as 100°F (38°C) or slightly higher. The temperature in any season is quite variable and it is not unusual to have a sunny 50°F (10°C) day in January followed by a snowy 25°F (-3°C) day. New York can also be prone to snowstorms and nor'easters (large storms similar to a tropical storm), which can dump as much as 2 feet (60cm) of snow in 24-48 hours. Tropical storms can also hit New York City in the summer and early fall.

New York People

The diverse population runs the gamut from some of America's wealthiest celebrities and socialites to homeless people. There are hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the city. New York's population has been diverse since the city's founding by the Dutch. Successive waves of immigration from virtually every nation in the world make New York a giant social experiment in cross-cultural harmony.

The city's ethnic heritage illuminates different neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs. In Manhattan, Little Italy remains an operating (if touristy and increasingly Chinese) Italian enclave, though many New Yorkers consider Arthur Avenue in the Bronx to be the "real" Little Italy. Manhattan's Chinatown remains a vibrant center of New York City's Chinese community, though in recent years the very large Chinese community in Flushing, Queens has rivaled if not, eclipsed it in importance, and three other Chinatowns have formed in New York City: the Brooklyn Chinatown in Sunset Park, Brooklyn; the Elmhurst Chinatown in Elmhurst, Queens; and the Avenue U Chinatown located in the Homecrest section of Brooklyn. Traces of the Lower East Side's once-thriving Jewish community still exist amid the newly-gentrified neighborhood's trendy restaurants and bars, but there are Chassidic communities in Borough Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Harlem has been gentrifying and diversifying lately but remains a center of African-American culture in New York. East (Spanish) Harlem still justifies its reputation as a large Hispanic neighborhood. Little known to most tourists are the large Dominican neighborhoods of Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights in upper Manhattan. Brooklyn's Greenpoint is famous for its large and vibrant Polish community. Queens and Brooklyn are known for being home to many of New York's more recent immigrant groups, which since 1990 have included large numbers of Russians, Uzbeks, Chinese, French, Yugoslavians, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Japanese, Koreans, Thais, Africans, Arabs (from throughout the Middle East and northern Africa), Mexicans, Dominicans, Ecuadorians, Brazilians, Colombians and Jamaicans.

Source: nycgo.com; wikitravel.org